Chapter 341: Forward (6)

After walking around the area for a while, Luke didn’t find the skeletons, and he frowned upon realizing that. It was hard to believe that the entire population of monsters and people from that world had become skeletons were all inside the fortress. It was impossible for all of them to fit in there. Luke felt that he needed to investigate more instead of heading straight for plan B and risking a failure that would leave him exposed. Besides, he needed time to prepare for that. So, it was like he had much of choice there.

"Another troublesome world... There is always the option of going to another world and ignoring this one, but I wouldn’t go too far if I keep skipping this kind of enemy," Luke thought.

Luke decided to retreat a little and reached a place where he could watch the fortress and have some peace of mind despite all the poison around. He also checked the shop for items that might help him. The necromancer rings were put away since his skeletons won’t be able to help him. It was quite the investment, but Luke ended up spending one million gold coins, and he bought ten rings that increased his intelligence by thirty points each. That was because the effect of the katana depended solely on his magic powers. So, the higher his intelligence, the more he could energize the weapon. Thus, he would need less time and mana for a bigger attack.

After that, Luke began to buy some potions and then used them before turning the mana recovered into mana crystals. It was quite a repetitive process, but he didn’t have to do it for long since he also made tons of mana crystals when he froze the ocean. The last time he ended up altering the shape of that world, and he was probably going to do the same again, but Luke didn’t have time to worry about that. Besides, the original inhabitants of that world were killed, so it won’t change anything if he destroys it a bit more.

In the end, Luke observed the area for three days, but he didn’t find many changes. The only thing that he noticed was the fact that the poisonous air was getting thinner over time. He also could sense it that it was heading toward the fortress.

"I sensed it... I suppose I am finally getting the gist of that, but it isn’t a proper skill, so I can’t level up by using it," Luke said and then sighed. "Regardless, it is time to put plan B into action."

Luke returned to his fortress, and he looked in the direction of the enemy fortress. Before, he thought it was just a common area that had a concentration of swamps, but that wasn’t the case. Regardless, Luke pointed his katana in that direction, and then a massive ice meter began to be created in front of his fortress.

That world and Earth had more or less the same size, so Luke wondered if he should create a meter of the size of the one that killed all the dinosaurs. That certainly would reset the state of that world and free it from the interests of the other overlords. Luke thought that it was a pretty merciful way to end things there.

Creating a projectile of that size would be easy, considering what Luke did before. Still, it wouldn’t gain enough speed to have the same power as that meteor. In the best-case scenario, only half of the planet would be affected by the attack. More than enough to deal with the enemy before him. So, eventually, Luke launched his attack and watched as the ice meteor fell and gained speed. However, he then noticed some changes in the area where the enemy was supposed to be. A shadow appeared and then turned into a circle... It was something similar to a mana shield.

Luke frowned since he didn’t expect that the enemy would notice that. Regardless, even that shield and the defensive measures of a fortress of that size won’t be enough to stop Luke’s attack. Or so Luke thought... When the ice meteor entered the atmosphere, he saw some dark points emerging from the ground around the dark sphere. Those began to attack the meteor with magic, while it didn’t slow down. It certainly caused some damage.

"Are those the skeletons?" Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Skeletons shouldn’t be able to fly, though."

While Luke watched the meteor being damaged and eventually touching that dark sphere, he recalled that some necromancers could use high levels type of magic, and one of them was particularly troublesome... the power to create liches. In fiction, liches are a type of undead creature. Such a creature often results from a willful transformation, as a powerful wizard skilled in necromancy who seeks eternal life uses rare substances in a magical ritual to become undead. Unlike zombies, which are often depicted as mindless, liches are sapient, retaining their previous intelligence and magical abilities. Liches are often depicted as holding power over lesser undead soldiers and servants.

However, in some works and games, necromancers can summon and create liches. They would need the appropriate vessels, though. Still, Luke didn’t imagine that such a power could be real... Regardless, soon Luke confirmed that a few liches wouldn’t stop his attack. They managed to decrease the damage and help the dark barrier, but at the cost of their lives.

You obtained 50.000 experience points.

You obtained 50.000 gold coins.

You obtained 50.000 experience points.

You obtained 50.000 gold coins.

...

Luke wondered why the liches didn’t attack him when he approached the fortress before. They were essentially mages, and since they were hiding underground, it was clear that they were lying low to attack enemies that might approach... Or maybe not, since they destroyed all life forms of that planet.

In any case, Luke’s attack finally landed, and the meteor split in two before falling to the sides of the area. Dozens of liches were killed to prevent their master from being killed. Then again, where were they killed? Liches are immortal undead. They might return any moment... That being said, how come Luke gained experience?

Those questions could be answered later. Luke made his flying fortress approach the enemy since he didn’t have any more reason to hide. The overlord was probably a necromancer who was one or maybe two ranks better than Luke in terms of magic alone. Approaching him like that might be dangerous, but he didn’t have any other option.

Much to Luke’s surprise, the enemy didn’t show any sign that they were about to escape. That was convenient but also troublesome. Regardless, when Luke parks his fortress. He went to the border and then saw something wearing a dark cloak doing the same thing on the enemy fortress. It was impossible to see what that thing was since the massive cloak covered their entire body. Still, Luke felt some sense of familiarity coming from it, and he wondered why... It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen many strange creatures over the last year, but that one seemed particularly familiar.

???? - Lv ????

HP: ????/ ????

MP: ????/ ????

SP: ????/ ????

STR: ????

SPE: ????

INT: ???? 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

END: ????

RES: ????

FOC: ????

Free points: ????

Gold Coins: ????

Active Skills: ????, ????, ????, ????

Spells: ????, ????, ????, ????

Passive: ????, ????, ????, ????

Luke summoned his katana, and when he did it, he felt his body getting heavier and the space around him becoming denser... it was gravity magic. His strength reached a point where he could withstand his body getting dozens of times heavier. Still, the real problem was the fact that he would lose a lot of his fighting capabilities. To make things worse, the dark shield was erected again, and this time as a dark-purple mist that made Luke lose health over time at a fearsome rate.

"Debuff and poison, huh... what a proper way of fighting for a necromancer," Luke thought.

A problem of that scale wouldn’t make Luke flinch, so he jumped to attack the overlord, but then multiple shadows emerged from the ground to block his path. They looked similar to the overlords, but Luke could actually see their faces behind the hoods. They were bald and extremely pale people. Instead of pale, their faces were gray, like they didn’t have any blood in their bodies.

They made some wooden staffs appear on their hands, and then they fired a purple beam of energy from all angles. Luke dodged them all after using Stinger and heading in a straight line toward the necromancer. While he welcomed the experience and gold coins offered by them, they would take too long to kill. Besides, they will disappear for good if their master is killed. However, a bone wall appeared in front of Luke and blocked his advance. His attack cracked it a bit, but he didn’t have time to try again. The liches were aiming at him...

They were about to attack, but the liches felt that something was off and then turned around only to see some dark arrows flying toward them. They weren’t on the same level, but Luke had his death knights as well, and he called them to join the fight. He just needed them to buy him some time...

Luke used the liches distraction to attack the bone wall again, and this time, it broke into pieces, and then he saw the Necromancer flying to the ground and eventually landing there. It was weird. If they could fly, why head to the ground? If anything, it would be better for them to fight in their fortress, even more since the poison was being concentrated there. The necromancer didn’t want to fight there for some reason, but Luke decided to play along for the time being and while he thought about how he could use that in his favor.

When Luke touched the ground, he saw some zombies emerging and touching his legs. With the first touch, he felt something creepy covering his armor, and then it got a bit numb in the legs. Still, Luke froze all the others with the effect of his sword.

You obtained 500 experience points.

You obtained 500 gold coins.

You obtained 500 experience points.

You obtained 500 gold coins.

...

"Curses... those zombies can curse my body even though they didn’t touch directly?" Luke wondered while he was frowning. "This guy really wants to weaken me as much as possible. I wish I had the chance to learn those types of skills. They would be useful for me, who always fight much stronger opponents."

The skeletons never stopped emerging from the ground. Even when Luke created an ice platform to go upward, they used themselves as a ladder to reach him. To make things even more complicated, the necromancer pointed his hands toward him, and some bone arrows were shot.

Luke spun his sword in the air and blocked those. Still, he was pushed backward with each hit. The power behind those was the real deal... Luke didn’t remember fighting many archers, but those arrows were heavy as steel.

"I don’t have time to waste, my skeletons won’t last for long, but it is clear that getting close to this guy won’t be an easy feat..." Luke thought while furrowing his eyebrows.